Bush says plenty of US diplomacy ahead on Iran

By Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) – American efforts to get agreement from
Russia and China on a joint strategy to curb Iran’s nuclear
program have only just begun, President George W. Bush has told
German television.

Bush has refused to rule out military intervention to
prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but the comments
were among his strongest yet on his preference for a diplomatic
solution, even if it takes time.

Bush was asked in an interview by the public television
station ARD how the United States could win the backing of
Russia and China for sanctions.

“At the moment this looks difficult,” he replied.

“But we have time. We are at the start of the diplomatic
process, not the end. You have to remember that. We live in a
world where everyone wants a quick solution to every problem.
I’d like that too, but the world doesn’t work that way.”

Britain and France have put together a draft U.N. Security
Council resolution with U.S. backing that will ask Iran to
suspend its enrichment of uranium to help support its assertion
that is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.

But Russia and China, the other two veto-carrying members
of the council, have raised objections to the draft, which
could pave the way for sanctions.

Bush said he believed a diplomatic solution was possible,
but that it was crucial to maintain a united front.

“If we want to stand united then there can be no cracks. We
need to speak with one voice, otherwise a diplomatic solution
won’t be possible. We need a strategy,” Bush said, according to
a transcript of the interview, conducted on Thursday and due to
be aired later on Sunday.

SERIOUS THREAT

In a separate interview with the German weekly Bild am
Sonntag, however, Bush made clear that he saw Iran under
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a major threat to peace.

“When he says that he wants to destroy Israel, the world
needs to take it seriously,” Bush said.

“This is a serious threat, aimed at an ally of the United
States and Germany. What Ahmadinejad also means is that if he
is ready to destroy one country, then he would also be ready to
destroy others. This is a threat that needs to be dealt with.”

Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be “wiped off the map,”
and has referred to the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews died
at the hands of the Nazis, as a myth.

As neither ARD nor Bild could provide English quotes,
Bush’s comments were translated from the German. Bild said the
White House planned to release an authorized English version of
its interview on Monday.

Bush, who met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the White
House last week, called her a key partner in the international
drive to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

“Chancellor Merkel has been strong so far. It is very
important that the Iranians know that Germany is working with
others to send Tehran a clear message,” he said.

Bush also said he understood Germany’s decision not to
participate in the Iraq war, which severely strained relations
between Washington and Merkel’s predecessor Gerhard Schroeder.

“The Germans today simply don’t like war — regardless of
where they are on the political spectrum. And I can understand
that. There is a generation of people whose lives were thrown
into complete disarray by a horrible war.”